2023 TEXANS DRAFT - DAY 3 (Rounds 4-7)

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The Texans started Day 3, the 3rd and final day of the draft, with 6 picks remaining. They were set to get things started early with both the 2nd and 3rd picks of the 4th round. #104, their own, and #105 from Arizona in the deal to get Anderson at #3. They had no 5th round pick, but they had 3 in the 6th round, and a compensatory pick in the 7th which would be the final pick in the entire draft, aka Mr. Irrelevant. To this point, the Texans had made 4 selections and 3 of them were on the offensive side of the ball, a QB, OL and WR. Anderson was their only defensive selection.

With the start of Day 3, the phone lines are busy again. This time it's teams calling the Texans. And for the 1st time in this draft the Texans move back and they do it with both of their 4th round picks. #104 goes to Las Vegas in exchange for their pick at #109 and the Raiders 5th round pick at #174. Then the Eagles come calling wanting the Texans pick at #105. Caserio gives that up for an Eagles 3rd round pick next year.

TCU - Edge, Dylan Horton

So the Texans 1st pick of Day 3 comes at #109, where the Raiders previously sat, and with that pick the Houston Texans select their 2nd defensive player of the draft, TCU edge rusher Dylan Horton. Horton played his freshman and sophomore seasons at New Mexico before transferring to TCU in 2020. Horton really only has one season where he put up good numbers, and that was last season where he led the Big 12 Conference in both tackles for loss (15) and sacks (10½). Before that his season highs were 9 and 4 respectively. 4 of Horton's 10½ sacks last year came in the National Semifinal game against Michigan. That's the only time in his collegiate career he's had more than 2½ sacks in a single game. In the 47 games Horton has played in, 23 in which he has started, he's only registered at least ½ a sack in 14 games. Horton is explosive off the snap and has good inside and outside spin moves in his repertoire, but he's below average in finishing off plays. Horton is a high motor guy and is violent at the point of attack, but doesn't appear to have a plan when rushing the QB. Not anything that can't be coached up though. A projected 5th rounder by "experts" so this may have been a bit of a reach.

Alabama - LB Henry To'oTo'o

From this point on it was hard to keep up with all of the wheeling and dealing. After the Horton pick at #109 in the 4th round, the Texans next pick was at #174 in the 5th round. Again it's the Los Angeles Rams on the other end of the phone and Caserio offers them the last pick in the draft, Mr. Irrelevant, to move up 7 spots to #167, also in the 5th round. And with that the Texans select Alabama LB Henry To'oTo'o, pronounced (TOH-oh-TOH-oh). So it looks like DeMeco is working that Alabama connection. To'oTo'o played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Tennessee where in 22 games he had just 1 sack, but led the Volunteers in tackles (76) and tackles for loss (10) in 2020. He transferred to Alabama in 2021 leading the Tide with 112 tackles with 8½ tackles for loss and 4 sacks. To'oTo'o is not considered a thumper and doesn't have the speed to stop outside run plays before they get to the corner. That doesn't bode well for the Texans struggles against the run the last few years. One AFC team executive says To'oTo'o knows how to play and should draw an NFL paycheck for a good number of years, but that he doesn't see him as a dynamic playmaker. We're likely to see To'oTo'o get most of his snaps on special teams.

Notre Dame - OL Jarrett Patterson

The Texans next pick was in the 6th round at #201. This is a pick they got from the Vikings last year for Ross Blacklock. The Texans keep that pick and with it select Notre Dame OL Jarrett Patterson. Patterson started 13 games at C for the Fighting Irish in 2019, and 8 more games in 2020 but his season ended with a foot injury. After getting a pin removed from his foot, he started all 13 games in 2021. He missed the opening game last season because of a foot issue, but started the remaining 12 games shifting over to LG. Patterson is probably not going to stand out individually, but he works well with teammates on double teams. Patterson is said to have allowed zero sacks in 1,609 pass block situations. He connects to a block and is hard to disengage from and he can work his way to the 2nd level picking up blitzers. A little lacking in athleticism as his hands and eyes are much quicker than his feet. I would assume Patterson battles Juice Scruggs, taken by the Texans in the 2nd round for starting C. Hard to imagine the 6th rounder beats Scruggs out but you never know.

Iowa St - WR Xavier Hutchinson

At this point the Texans had 2 picks remaining in the draft, both 7th rounders. #230 and #248 both from the Eagles for them to take the Texans pick a #191. If the Texans were going to do any more moving up in this draft, they'd probably have to go into their stash of picks for next year, and that's exactly what happened. Caserio calls up the Buffalo Bills and offer them #230 and a 6th round pick next year, to move up to #205. The Bills say thank you very much and with the #205th pick, 28th in the 6th round, the Texans select WR Xavier Hutchinson out of Iowa State. Hutchinson led the Big 12 in receptions for 3 straight seasons, including 107 catches last year, 3rd most in the nation. His 1,171 yards for the Cyclones last season also led the Big 12 and was 7th most in the nation. Hutchinson accounted for 34% of all receptions for Iowa St last year, and 37% of their receiving yards. Safe to say  he was the go to guy for the Cyclones which may have padded his stats a little. Hutchinson has average speed which forces him into a lot of contested catches. Hutchison had 6 TD catches last year but only 1 came in conference play. He's going to have to improve his hands, route running, and tracking the ball skills if he's going to crack a Texans WR room that consists of Robert Woods, John Metchie, Nico Collins, Noah Brown and Tank Dell.

Pittsburgh - S Brandon Hill

And that brings us to the end. No, it won't be Mr. Irrelevant, as the Texans trade that pick away, but with the 12th to last pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, #248 overall, Nick Caserio finishes his 3rd draft with the Texans by selecting Pittsburgh safety Brandon Hill. I guess all you really need to know about Hill is that he opted out of the Panthers bowl game last season so that he could prepare for the draft, you know, where he was drafted with the 12th to last pick. Whatevs. Hill has above average cover skills but below average instincts. He provides plenty of pop but he doesn't always wrap up which makes him inconsistent in run support, again, something that the Texans have been horrible at the last few years and really need to find a way to tackle and stop the run. This is a pick that is destined for special teams, if he even makes the cut out of camp.

So that will do it for the Texans 2023 draft. And for just the 2nd time in the last 6 drafts they do NOT draft a TE. Of course signing Dalton Schultz in free agency might have had something to do with that. They started out with 12 picks and ended up making 9. They got 2 of the first 3 picks of the draft to get it started. It's safe to say it certainly didn't finish like it started, but the backend of drafts are never really exciting to begin with. Nothing but backups and special teamers, with an occasional diamond. Tom Brady in the 6th round anyone? So now the Texans will load up on players who weren't drafted, UDFAs (UnDrafted Free Agents) to get their rosters to near 90, which is the max. In fact, the Texans immediately starting signing players when the draft was over. Soon rookie camps will start, OTA's, mini camps, training camp, and before you know it, football will be back and the DeMeco Ryans era will officially kickoff.

In the meantime, I will give my assessment of how GM Nick Caserio performed and navigated his way through this draft with my annual meaningless draft grade ready for you Monday morning. Although, not to toot my own horn, but I think I've been pretty spot on the last couple of seasons with a D grade in 2021, and a C+ last year.




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